The consortium for SMSDU was built among long-time partners with a goal of combining institutional experience with individual expertise.

The University of Zagreb is a comprehensive university with 29 faculties and 3 academies, and almost 60000 graduate and postgraduate students, and 7500 academic and administrative staff. Staff development has been recognized as one of key aspects of University reform in University's strategic plan Breakthrough 2001. University of Zagreb has been a main coordinator for three University Management Tempus Projects in which all other Croatian Universities have been partners (UM-JEP 15074-2000, UM-JEP-16015-2001, UM-JEP 17060-2002).

The University of Rijeka was founded in 1973 and has almost 16000 students and 899 full-time teachers. It is a comprehensive city university with 10 faculties and three teacher academies located in other cities, and is currently undergoing a dynamic reform program with the special emphasis on the promotion of quality culture.

The University of Zadar is the most recent higher education institution, founded in 2003, but has a long history of academic studies. In contrast to the structure of the universities of Rijeka and Zagreb, which are associations of strong faculties, the University of Zadar is a departmentally organised what enables better integration of its functions and organisational units.

The University of Bristol is one of the most prestigious British institutions of higher education with an extensive staff development service which benefits from a five-year experience in specialized training programs for managers, staff review schemes, an Investors in People program, and the introduction of European Computer Driving License program. It has extensive experience in cooperation with Croatian universities and acted as a grant applicant for the UM_JEP 15074-2000.

The University of Twente is one of the leading entrepreneurial universities in Europe. It's Center for Higher Education Policy Studies is one of the leading institutions in higher education research in Europe. Its international experience and high expertise in many aspects of staff development will be the valuable contribution to the goals of this project.

The University of Strathclyde is one of the most distinguished applied sciences universities in UK. Its Centre for Academic Practice has almost 20 years experience in providing support to teaching, learning and higher education management. The university achieved positive rankings in all subject areas assessed in the UK higher education teaching quality assessment procedures, and received special recognition for its teaching quality assessments.

The University of Groningen, one of the largest universities in the Netherlands, places special stress on international contacts, both institutional and among its staff. It also emphasizes multidisciplinary and global research and teaching. It was a partner in the 2000 UM-JEP 15074-2000 Tempus project with all Croatian universities.

We are happy to have been able to include five top experts in the field of staff development into the project.
Dr. Lazar Vlasceanu is a deputy director of UNESCO European Centre for Higher Education and was a Secretary of State in the Department of Higher Education.
Dr. Mieke Clement is currently a director of DUO/ICTO, the central educational support unit of the K.U.Leuven. She is currently developing an international training course for novice faculty developers in the context of an EU-Canada mobility project.
Dr. John Taylor Professor John Taylor is Director of the Centre for Higher Education Management and Policy at the University of Southampton (CHEMPaS). He is an expert on organisational structures, planning and resource allocation in higher education, and on management development for professional services in higher education.
Dr. Sari Lindblom-Ylänne is the Director of Centre for Research and Development in Higher Education, Faculty of Behavioral Sciences and has had extensive experience in national and university education initiatives.
Dr. Edward Simpson is a Distinguished Public Service Fellow in the Institute of Higher Education at the University of Georgia. Dr Simpson has been active in higher education accreditation work for more than twenty-five years. He has consulted a variety of colleges and universities on matters related to continuing education, strategic planning, and organizational issues.